FOUR TYPES OF CATTLE.
| 1. American Bison. | 2. Hindu Humped Ox. |
| 3. Thibetan Yak. | 4. Asiatic Water Buffalo. |
All species have great speed—their principal means of safety—and the swiftest hounds are hardly able to run them down; while they also have astonishing skill in suddenly halting and turning, or doubling, by which they gain a fresh start before their more clumsy pursuers can perceive what has happened, and change their course. Chasing them with greyhounds is a regular sport called coursing. Along with this goes extreme timidity and watchfulness, in which their big ears serve a most useful purpose, rising to the slightest sound, but dropping out of the way as the animal makes off in a series of tremendous leaps; and the hare can make faster time uphill than down, owing to the greater length of the hind legs—a decided advantage. Knowing these tricks, most of its enemies resort to counter-strategy—a stealthy approach and quick rush—and an excellent picture of these wiles, and poor Bunny's efforts to meet them, may be read in Seton's tale of "Raggylug," and in such delightful writings as those of Audubon and Bachman, Godman, Kennicott, Lockwood, Abbott, Robinson, Sharp, Cram, and some others. Even the least of the tribe, however, is able to make a defense which often completely disconcerts the foe, and the means are found in its strong hind feet.
In addition to this familiar eastern cottontail we have in the United States several other species, as the little marsh-hare and the big water-hare of the Southern States; the large northern varying hare; the arctic hares; the various long-eared, long-legged "jack rabbits" of the Plains and Rocky Mountains; and several lesser species, more or less common on the Pacific coast. The varying hare is so called because, as is the case with several foreign northern hares, its brown summer coat when shed as usual on the approach of winter is replaced by one which is white.
CHAPTER XV
THE WILD OXEN
We now come to a very important group of mammals called ungulates, or hoofed animals, because of the way in which their feet are formed. The oxen, sheep, goats, antelopes, deer, horses, swine, elephants, and rhinoceroses all belong to this order. First let us notice some of the wild oxen.
The Gaur